At least 44 dead after bus veers off cliff in southern Peru

Police said about two dozen people were injured but they are not sure how many people were on board.

The number of deaths from a bus crash on Wednesday near Arequipa in southern Peru has climbed to 44.

Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski took to Twitter to express his condolences to the families of those killed, and assured that all measures were being taken to assist with the rescue and transfer of injured to hospitals.

The accident occurred around 1:30 a.m.at kilometer 782 of the South Panamerican Highway.

Rescue teams "have been working since dawn, coordinating the transfer and care of the injured", Arequipa governor Yamila Osorio wrote on her Twitter account.

Photo taken on February 21, 2018 shows the site of a bus accident off a highway in Camana, Arequipa, Peru.